New oral anticoagulants are being introduced as improved therapies (over warfarin) in preventing thrombosis. One advantage is that no routine testing to monitor therapy is required for most patients. However, some patients with complications would benefit from a test for levels of these agents. Furthermore, a therapeutic to remove these new oral anticoagulants from the circulation of patients is not available and would be advantageous, for example, in allowing patients to stay on their oral anticoagulants until immediately prior to surgery and in allowing for patients on oral coagulants to be safely taken to emergency surgery.
The present invention overcomes these shortcomings in the art by providing methods and compositions for detecting a coagulation inhibitor in a sample, as well as for identifying the type and/or amount of coagulation inhibitor in the sample, even in the presence of other anticoagulant agents. Also provided is a therapeutic for administration to a patient taking an oral anticoagulant to rapidly bind the coagulation inhibitor and reduce its plasma concentrations, e.g., for emergency surgery and/or modulation of an adverse reaction to the anticoagulant.